Quick thought about Arve/folk music

Why the fascination of folk music for successive generations of Norwegian musicians? Such interest is frequently acknowledged as an influence on the likes of Arve Henriksen, but the reason for this interest mostly goes unexplored. My idea is that it’s the implied connection to the land – literally the groundedness – of the traditional and therefore a sense of continuity that enables an apparently hard-won and shared emotional honesty. These elements were lost in most western, post-industrial societies once the Industrial Revolution necessitated economic migration. Such large-scale movement severed the ties of land, family and shared histories. Although never directly experienced, the loss of these connections is atavistically recognisable.